Those who travel north of Iowa City on Highway 1 are often intrigued by an attractive house with unusual roof lines that is tucked on the knoll of a hill surrounded by trees. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this Iowa landmark is reminiscent of the popular Prairie School style of architecture. Iowa City Architect Roland Wehner and his wife Marilyn designed and built their house at 3112 Highway 1 NE in 1959 and lived there for the next 54 years. Many unique design features, including the use of stone quarried in Stone City or the cantilevered porch balcony, enhance the beauty of the home. Roland Wehner gives an illustrated talk about their adventures in designing and building the house; and the issues, circumstances, and philosophy that most influenced the design. Wehner will review the characteristics of the rural site, ways in which the work and writings of Frank Lloyd Wright influenced the design, and the role that the equilateral triangle played in the planning process.

Roland Wehner is a noted Iowa architect responsible for designing and renovating numerous public buildings including schools, churches, county courthouses, jails, and retirement homes. An Illinois native, he grew up in Oakville, Iowa, and attended Iowa State College in Ames, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1954. After his marriage in 1956, Wehner moved to Iowa City with his wife Marilyn and started working with architect Henry L. Fisk. They formed a partnership in 1960, and after Fisk's death, Wehner created a firm with his college classmate, Harvey Henry. Over the next three decades, his firm went by various names, such as Wehner, Nowysz, Pattschull, Pffiffner, and a state-wide reputation for excellence was established. Roland Wehner retired in the mid-1990s but continues to pursue his interest in photography and architecture, helping to design and build about 25 houses for Habitat for Humanity.

For more information about the State Historical Society of Iowa, visit http://www.iowahistory.org.

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